BB0706  Cockups and much much more.

Wednesday 7th February 2007

Cockups from Meal Fell

With a name like “Great Cockup” it’s a must visit hill.  However one has to avoid the temptation to relate the happenings of the day in similar terminology.  So I will refrain from further comment about the problems that we had in identifying exactly where we were before we started up the Burn Tod bridle path or indeed the difficulty we had in identifying Little Cockup (mainly as the maps did not agree) or the half team picture taken at what we then thought to be the summit but Stan, being wiser, refused to be associated with such a Cockup and headed off to the proper summit.  Or the subsequent full team picture when I forgot that my lens was on zoom so lost their feet!

Half the team at which Cockup?

The full team (minus feet) on Knott

Having got that out of the way I can reveal that this walk was hardly about Cockups at all. That was just a first port of call on a beautiful but very cold day and following another early start.  Meal Fell followed and then to Great Sca Fell (to Tony’s amusement envisioning telling his pals that he did Scafell from Skiddaw - wow - respect!).  The bitingly wind we had experienced on Meal Fell had dropped so, with the bulk of the climbing out of the way, we took an early lunch.  From here the plan had been to move on to Brae Fell but we were going so well that we decided to detour to take in Knott

Blencathra and Skiddaw from Knott

Back to Great Sca Fell and the original plan; conquest of Brae Fell from which we had intended to go direct to Longlands Fell, it being a Wainwright and needed for Bryan’s 3rd time round.  However I could not understand why its higher sister of Lowthwaite Fell was being ignored (originally by Mr W and hence potentially by us) and insisted that we first added that to the route before completing the batch of six Ws.

From there it was an easy, if quite steep, grassy descent and whilst Tony and I were taking it steadily, chatting away, Bryan and Stan decided to put on a masterclass in synchronised downhill fellrunning.  Despite our invocations, neither put a foot wrong.  We regrouped at Longlands, on the Cumbria Way.  The road back was surprisingly undulating but other than the four mad dogs that contemplating savaging us as they rushed from Stockdale and the wondrous pinkiness of Orthwaite Hall, it was uneventful.

The Cockups

All day long we had been treated to magnificent views and mostly to bright sun (albeit at times with a biting sub zero wind).  This was my first visit to these Uldale Fells beyond Skiddaw and it was quite memorable.  It made quite a change from the previous outing, BB0705,  the steepness of that route being visible this time as we returned over Dunmail Raise.

And if you want to read about real Cockups whilst out walking, I suggest you turn to the second stage of the
Mrs’ Dales Diary !

Don, 7th February 2007

 

Distance: 10.0 miles according to Bryan's GPS downloaded into MemoryMap and 8.9 miles according to my plotting in Anquet.  

Height climbed: 2,628 feet according to Anquet.

Wainwrights:  Great Cockup, Meal Fell, Great Scar Fell, Knott, Brae Fell, Longlands Fell

 

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Click on the photos for an enlargement or related large picture.

This page describes a 2007 adventure of BOOTboys, a loose group of friends of mature years who enjoy defying the ageing process by getting out into the hills as often as possible!

As most live in South Lakeland, it is no surprise that our focus is on the Lakeland fells and the Yorkshire Dales.

As for the name, BOOTboys, it does not primarily derive from an item of footwear but is in memory of Big Josie, the erstwhile landlady of the erstwhile Burnmoor Inn at Boot in Eskdale, who enlivened Saint Patrick's Day 1973 and other odd evenings many years ago!

If you want to contact us, click on BOOTboys